2016 Regular Session APPROVED
SENATE CONCURRENT STUDY REQUEST NO. 3
BY SENATOR BARROW
A CONCURRENT STUDY REQUEST
To the Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways, and Public Works and the House
Committee on Transportation, Highways, and Public Works to function as a joint
committee to study the assessment and collection of fees due to the office of motor
vehicles.
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor
vehicles, records indicate over one million uncleared motor vehicle liability security
cancellations dating from 1986 to the present, with seventeen percent of these violations
occurring over ten years ago; and
WHEREAS, the fines for these violations have been revised by law several times
since 1986 and were significantly increased effective July 1, 2014, by Act No. 641 of the
2014 Regular Session of the Legislature; and
WHEREAS, regardless of the date of the violation for failure to maintain compulsory
motor vehicle liability security, the fees being charged by the office of motor vehicles are
based on the maximum fee provided for in the 2014 fee schedule; and
WHEREAS, over one hundred twenty-five thousand of the driving records with
uncleared motor vehicle liability security cancellations have total fees in excess of one
thousand dollars; and
WHEREAS, the office of motor vehicles reached back to 1986, a period of thirty
years, to pursue debt collections; and
WHEREAS, insured motorists are required only to retain documentation regarding
their automobile liability insurance for three years; and
WHEREAS, the legislature recognizes the critical importance of the driving public
maintaining motor vehicle liability security and also that the fee structure for failure to
maintain minimum security should discourage violations; and
WHEREAS, the legislature further recognizes that any fee structure for failure to
maintain security cannot be so onerous that the average citizen is unable to pay; and
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WHEREAS, the office of motor vehicles avers that it is not authorized to forgive or
compromise any debt owed, regardless of the time period elapsed since the noncompliance
occurred or the age of the debt; and
WHEREAS, prior to the authorization provided for in Act No. 414 of the 2015
Regular Session of the Legislature, the collection of these fees owed to the state was
dependent upon customer compliance following the initial notice from the office of motor
vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the office of motor vehicles began to refer debt for reinstatement fees
as a result of violations of the requirement to maintain compulsory motor vehicle liability
security to the Department of Revenue, office of debt recovery, in November 2015; and
WHEREAS, there has been a public outcry and numerous constituent complaints and
concerns regarding the fees and fee notices; and
WHEREAS, legislation addressing these issues was introduced during the 2016
Regular Session of the Legislature; and
WHEREAS, in the future, the office of motor vehicles will begin collection efforts
for other violations, including failure to appear violations, false declaration violations, and
proof of insurance violations, and its collection practices regarding these matters may give
rise to similar concerns; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill No. 400 of the 2016 Regular Session of the Legislature
would have provided a debt amnesty program that would have significantly reduced the
reinstatement fee for affected motorists; and
WHEREAS, the bill was deferred in order to study and obtain additional necessary
information on these issues and the potential effects.
THEREFORE, the Legislature of Louisiana requests that the Senate Committee on
Transportation, Highways, and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation,
Highways, and Public Works conduct a study jointly to consider the following:
(1) Whether some form of amnesty program is appropriate to assist Louisiana
citizens to clear their past due debt, and, if so, the particular requirements of such program,
including what the payment provisions and the reinstatement fees should be under an
amnesty program.
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(2) Whether the office of motor vehicles should be granted the authority to
compromise past due obligations, and, if so, what the parameters of its compromise authority
should be.
(3) The length of time that office of motor vehicles should be able to pursue final
debt.
(4) The efficacy of the office of motor vehicles' current notification system to
individuals whose vehicle security coverage lapses.
(5) The appropriate time period that security providers and insureds should be
required to retain documentation regarding vehicle security.
(6) Any other related matters involving the assessment and collection of any fee
imposed by the office of motor vehicles, including the form of notice to debtors and
prescriptive period applicable to the debt.
The Senate Committee on Transportation, Highways, and Public Works and the
House Committee on Transportation, Highways, and Public Works shall develop
recommendations to be submitted to the legislature on or before February 1, 2017.
A copy of this Study Request shall be transmitted to the commissioner of the
Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor vehicles, and the secretary of
the Department of Revenue.
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